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*Greatest Safeties in the Pre-ISFL era - Printable Version

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*Greatest Safeties in the Pre-ISFL era - PMoney - 07-27-2020

PMoney here as part of the wiki team. The wiki is a great place to find out about great players of the past and records in the league (so if you want to be featured in one of these someday, keep your wiki updated). I wanted to write hopefully a series on my picks of the all-time GOAT’s of the NSFL era. There have been a lot of great players come and go throughout history but there can only be 1 greatest in each position. The first instalment looks into who is the greatest Safety in the history of the league. This is a subjective opinion but hopefully some of the stats behind the players will help you make as much of a decision as me.

Hall of Fame
When you think about the recognition for all-time greats, the Hall of Fame is the first stop. A selection of the best players in the league’s history, with only a select few voted in by the committee each season.

Current
Currently the Safeties in the Hall of Fame are:
Ian Bavitz LB/S
Mason Brown LB/S
Blackford Oakes

Already we see that 2 of these players were not true safeties, having also played as Linebackers. While players may play out of position, I only want to include players who didn’t position switch as it's harder to split their careers fairly. While both of these players were Hall of Fames, they also aren’t quite as elite as Oakes and likely aren’t in my GOAT conversation.

[div align=\\\"center\\\"][Image: 450px-OakesHOF.png][/div]

Blackford Oakes
Oakes is my first full candidate for GOAT safety. The Colorado native Oakes was the #2 pick in the S4 NSFL draft, going to the Las Vegas Legion as one of their 5 picks in the first round! He spent 2 seasons there before the team moved to New Orleans where he played the majority of his career. After 6 seasons there, he was moved to Baltimore as the team looked to add fresh faces. He was there for just a season before a big all-in trade took him to his home state of Colorado for a season as they looked to push for an Ultimus in a star-studded roster. However, following their defeat in the Ultimus at the hands of the Otters, he would opt out of his contract to return to Baltimore to round out his career. His career accomplishments were:
2x Ultimus Bowl, DRotY, 2x DBotY, 8x Pro Bowl


Future HOF potential

Fatih Terim
While not a lkely candidate, Fatih Terim holds an interesting record for most TPE when retiring. A great safety retired in his prime and hasn’t yet been eligible for HoF voting. Unfortunately, he probably lacks the longevity and stats required for a real Hall of Fame chance.

Walt Green
A player who has still active in the league in his final years, Walt Green was part of the Safety Duo with Faith Terim in Baltimore and had more longevity in his career. He had an excellent career and looks like he has good potential to make the Hall of Fame. A solid presence at safety and 18 INTs over his career is still a good mark for a safety, especially in recent years. While he may make the hall, he lacks some of the records that our next candidate has to be considered the greatest.

Danny Grithead

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While Grithead started his career at Kansas City as a running back, once he was drafted to the NSFL he position switched to safety so is considered a true safety for this article. Early in his career, Grithead fell in the DSFL draft boards, some say due to a record low wonderlic score of just 7 points. Ending up in Kansas City at #19 overall, Grithead had a fairly strong season as a running back in the minor leagues before he found his true calling at Safety. He was drafted at #6 to the team where he spent the first 6 years of his career, Orange County. Much of his team success was had here, with 2 Ultimus’ 5 Pro bowls and his first DBotY. In 2031, Grithead signed a mega deal, moving him to the Yellowknife Wraiths in what would be a move that would last the rest of his career. He signed a contract worth $21million over 2 years which many would consider very expensive, but Grithead showed he was worth every penny. In his first season in the great white north, he was league MVP and his performances in that season caused sweeping rule changes across the NSFL as Safeties were banned from playing at the Linebacker position. However he continued his dominant statistical performances over the next 6 years with 5 pro bowls in Yellowknife, before retiring at the end of the S22 Season.
Grithead is a lock for the hall with his career accomplishments including:

2x Ultimus Bowl, MVP, DPotY, 2x DBotY, 1x RotY, 10x Pro Bowl

Winning an MVP as a defensive player is nearly as difficult in the NSFL as it is in the NFL. Only 3 defensive players have ever won MVP. The first defensive player, Jayce Tuck, won 2 in the early seasons of the league, but has a tarnished reputation due to doping allegations. The other, Julian O’Sullivan, won it in S13 as a part of a joint 3 way-tie which slightly diminishes the value. Danny Grithead had a stellar year including 91 tackles, 12 sacks 20 PD’s, 10 INT’s and 2 Defensive TD’s. This season alone would put him in the hall of fame for some people, but the rest of his career was no slouch either. He is my second candidate for GOAT Safety.

The two top candidates shine brightly above the rest of the pack. While there are many excellent safeties, the records and accomplishments really differentiate these 2.

Record Stats

Interceptions is a big stat for any DB and Blackford Oakes is one of the best ever for interceptions. His 46 Ints is second all time, behind only Hall of fame CB, Dermot Lavelle. Interceptions in a single season is a record held by multiple players, at 10 Ints. Notably, Danny Grithead in his MVP season tied this record but failed to record more than 4 in any other season.

In the air, pass deflections are another key stat and Grithead is the only Safety in the top 10 all time, with 167.
The other side to safety is the tackling, as the last line of defence or in the box. Danny Grithead in his final season, S22, became the leading tackler in the history of the NSFL with 1268 tackles. Since then he has been overtaken by veteran LB Alex Selich but he remains only 7 behind. In a statistic dominated by LBs, Grithead’s performance as a S is excellent. Grithead also managed to climb into the top 10 for career sacks with 80. Conventionally a DL stat, Grithead is the sole safety to make the top 10. These traditionally front-7 stats all have Grithead as the sole exception as an entrant from the backfield. This does show the position that Grithead played was not always a true safety, particularly in his MVP season, and the changes to the rules of the game that he brought about. However, the high pass deflection stats show he was no slouch in the passing game either.

Playoff stats are as much of an indication of how many times your team made playoffs as your own performance, but Grithead once again leads in tackles with 177, over 50 more than the second-place postseason tackler. He also is the only player with 2 defensive TD’s in his playoff career.

Comparing stats
This table shows a complete comparison of both players stats.

[Image: Cf2iREg.png]

Both players had strong careers with a multitude of stats and have records that will likely never be reached due to changes in the league’s rules. When you compare the stats 1:1, Grithead leads in almost every category. The only one he trails significantly is INTs, and while a very important stat, seems outweighed by the rest of the stats. It really depends on whether you want your safety to be a ball hawk or all around defensive presence.

Conclusion
My GOAT safety is Danny Grithead just for the complete domination of the defence that he showed throughout his career. MVP for a defensive player is so rare and while it was playing a role that later became outlawed, the rest of his career was at an equally top level.

Code:
1389 words 1.2x Wiki Publicist pay


*Greatest Safeties in the Pre-ISFL era - Trautner - 07-28-2020

Thanks for the kind words! Looking forward to the next era of safeties to put themselves in the conversation